Connecting to virtual organs

[jimhenry]

There were some questions asked about jOrgan and my program, Miditzer, in the thread that became the basis for this topic.  I think this is getting out toward the fringes of being a Midibox thread and I started a new thread so at least some of these issues can be discussed as uses of Midibox without cluttering up discussions that are more directly related to the Midibox.  

In Pipe organ Conversion to Midi John_W._Couvillon wrote:

Mickey,

I downloaded the midister software to try it out.  The display looks good.  The soundfonts are the same as for Jorgan, however, it doesn't appear to be configurable. Don't see any setup to assign the keyboards, pedalboards or stops. Did I miss something?

John

No John, you didn't miss anything.  Miditzer is hardwired to use a single MIDI Input device with the Solo manual on channel 1, Accompaniment on Channel 2, and Pedal on Channel 3.  For the time being I suggest using Midi-Ox and Midi Yoke to remap the input as required. Let me know if you need instructions on how to do that beyond what comes with Midi-Ox.

BTW, the SoundFont used with jOrgan depends on the disposition file.  I think the disposition provided by Bruce Miles uses corg_s in Bank 24 because when he prepared it jOrgan did not support transposition.  Miditzer uses corg_r in Bank 25 because Miditzer does transpose and unify the inputs to produce the MIDI Out messages.  You had another post where you were getting odd sound results from Miditzer.  It is possible that you didn't have the right SoundFont setup for Miditzer.

Jim Henry

[John_W._Couvillon]

Jim Henry,

Thanks for your input on miditzer.

In terms of midibox, I will have one core (midio128) confugured for the great keyboard (lower 64 notes on channel 1) and the swell keyboard (upper 64 notes on channel 2) the midiin of core 1 will receive input from core 2 which is a midio64 which will send the pedal 32 notes on channel 3. Core No 1 then will pass all information thru to the PC. Will this configuration operate miditzer properly.  I had planned to use the balance of the 64 inputs on core 2 to stops. I assume that this can't be done.  The graphical desktop must be used to set stops.

I checked on the soundfonts, and I do have corg_r103a loaded in bank 025. I say that since  it appears in the soundfont window of the audioHQ. Also when I can play all stops on the screen keyboard included in audioHq.

When I load Miditzer, the tibia stop sounds like a timpani rather then the tibia.  Some of the sounds don't match the stop names, perhaps I am doing something wrong. Miditzer automatically uses bank 25?

concerning midiox and midiyoke, I have not used these programs as yet.  I just finished assembling the two cores and the din cards. Next is to tackle connecting these to my Moller keyboards and pedal board.  I do plan to return the console to playing actual pipework, so I don't want to disturb the existing wiring any more then necessary.  The Moller console I have has stops for 8 ranks, but was wired for 3, so ranks or parts of ranks do double duty. If you have had experience with the conversion of a moller console, any tips would be appreciated. By the way, I really like the sound of the theater stops. Can't wait to get it playing.

Have a Happy Easter,

john Couvillon

[jimhenry]

Hi John,

It sounds like your plan for the keyboard channel assignments will work just fine with the Miditzer.  Eventually that will be configurable in the Miditzer anyway.

I'm really puzzled by why you don't get the proper sounds from the Miditzer.  The Miditzer really only does two things on the output side.  When you select the MIDI Out Device, it sends the necessary commands to set bank 25 and instruments from the Miles' corg_r SoundFont on the channels used by the Miditzer and it routes the inputs to the appropriate MIDI output channels based on the stop setting.  

Are you absolutely sure you have the Miditzer MIDI Out Device set to the SB MIDI Out Device that has the SoundFont loaded?  The Miditzer MIDI Out should be the same as the "Audition Device" seen in Options... on the Creative keyboard.  Are you running any other programs that would be competing for the sound card?

Stops are controlled from the screen for the moment.  This past weekend I finally figured out the problem that had me stumped for a couple of months on how to control stops with MIDI messages.  It will still be some time before I release a version of the Miditzer with MIDI stop control in it because this will require a fairly extensive facility to allow people to customize what message should control what function.

For reasons explained at http://tadstone.home.netcom.com/Orgel.htm stop control will most likely use controllers 80 and 81.

I expect it will be unusual for people to have consoles that match the Miditzer very well as far as stop layout go.  It will probably be more useful to use combination pistons via MIDI.  Combination pistons will be controlled by at least Program Change messages.

In the very long run, Miditzer may be able to be customized to match the user's console.  But Miditzer is at the moment almost obsessively driven by historical accuracy to a real Wurlitzer organ.  I'm not sure how well that can be reconciled to customization for specific consoles.  You'd be amazed at how many special case things are in the code.  Some are due no doubt to the ad hoc coding being used in the early phases of the project.  But some of these things will be real challenges to handle in a sufficiently general way that they could be reconfigured by an average user.

Jim Henry

[John_W._Couvillon]

Hi Jimh,

Have been on the road for awhile without access to the forum.

Your comments are appreciated.  I will step through the setup process and verify that I did it per your comments.

Personally, I hope that you continue to develop the program for all of us that have a strong interest, and desire a means to stay connected with the organ, without tremendous expense.  I can imagine the cost to you in manhours developing the code. We users appreciate it.

Regards,

John W. Couvillon